How have the markets reacted to the Union Budget?

StatsGuru:  How markets reacted to the Budget

Business Standard

Apropos the editorial "Europe's upward march" (March 11), for the last two years, the weakest link of the Euro zone economy, Greece, had imposed a drag on this bloc, far beyond its size. There had been apprehension that its collapse would set up an avalanche of failure over an entire economic combine that was not too long ago among the top four, globally. Then, Europe finally got serious. The massive buying stimulus was unfurled by the European Central Bank even as Greece suffered a grinding regime of austerity for five years.That said, stimulus alone may not suffice and many of them will need to enact reforms to address rising unemployment, falling consumer prices and economic stagnation. The role of Germany, that has been particularly vocal about not wanting to do more for its weaker sister nations such as Greece, would still matter. Germany needs to put its faith in the European Union.R Narayanan,  GhaziabadLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNeh

Letters: Germany's role in EU

This refers to Arvind Panagariya's article "Win-win on land" (March 10). The vice-chairman of the National Institution for Transforming India Aayog has very succinctly laid bare all the critical points for the amendment of the controversial land Bill. He has very rationally put forth the reply for the opposition's only criteria for opposing the Bill, that is: Why did the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) consent to the Bill in the first place? Now, since the Bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi must use his oratory skills in Rajya Sabha and appeal to the masses.Modi should clearly say that the BJP supported the Bill in 2013 in its current form for the fear of being seen as supporting it, although there are some gaps that the party is trying to plug. The message must go out to a large section of the electorate in the interest of overall development.Naresh Saxena,  New DelhiLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 B

Letters: For overall development

This refers to Debashis Basu's column "Stock market riches for the poor" (Irrational Choice, March 9). The writer's suggestion to set up an exclusive scheme that would invest in equities is quite rational and welcome. However, the suggestion that the task can be entrusted to one of the top mutual funds in the country is beset with difficulties associated with government orders. The government cannot simply select the top fund. It has to call for tenders to prevent the attribution of bias in selection. There is no guarantee that the best top funds would be able to get the scheme on merit. Otherwise, the government should simply outsource the scheme to one of the top mutual funds. How far this can be accommodated within the government's rules and regulations is anybody's guess.In this country, even if the government wants to do something good, it has to pass the rigorous test of public scrutiny and should conform to the canons of public policy. When the government ventures to conform the

Letters: A poor man's privilege

The Shiv Sena has attacked Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed over the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam, saying that he was a "godfather" to the separatists. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana said: "The separatists in Kashmir have got a godfather in Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who has increased their strength." In a veiled attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, a coalition partner in the Sayeed-led government in Jammu & Kashmir, the Sena said, "Do anything you want, but do not get India into trouble. Do not be a part of this crime against the country."

Sena up in arms

Wireless crime-fighting has taken off, thanks to cell phones, cameras and global positioning system. And it seems to have found application in the most unlikely of circumstances. A directive issued by the circle officer of Mohanlalganj, on the outskirts of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, requires all farmers in the region to take a picture with their livestock and submit it at the local police station as proof of ownership. The move will ostensibly help in resolving the rising cattle-ownership disputes in the region by making identification of the rightful owner easier.

Selfie with cattle?

The euro zone could be on the road to revival

Europe's upward march

Fixing the PDS

Speaking at an information technology industry event earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted how technology could bring transparency in governance. He said that when he was in the Opposition, a Comptroller and Auditor General report on coal block allocation had flagged a loss of Rs 1.86 lakh crore to the exchequer. While he joined the Opposition chorus in criticising the then government, Modi said, there were niggling doubts in his mind whether the figure could actually be that big. Even as Modi spoke at the event, the e-auction of the blocks initiated by his government had already raised Rs 1.10 lakh crore from just 19 blocks (a more recent report put the proceeds from auction at Rs 2 lakh crore from 31 coal blocks), proving that technology leaves little scope for doubt.

Technology and transparency

The Bharatiya Janata Party has been way ahead of other national parties when it comes to reaching out to people over online social media networks. At times, its members have also got into trouble for shooting off in the wrong direction. The party's Agra unit dismissed its local media in-charge earlier this week for posting a poem on Facebook, which criticised the party's support to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Jammu & Kashmir chief minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. In the post that went viral, media in-charge Rajkumar Pathik likened Prime Minister Narendra Modi's support to the PDP to feeding milk to a snake. He said a snake could only produce poison and it would bite Modi at the first opportunity.

Social media travails

This refers to Arvind Panagariya's article "Win-win on land" (March 10). The reasons for opposing the changes are emotional and political rather than logical. According to the survey cited in the article, 72 per cent farmers want to hold on to their land despite the fact that only 10 per cent among them get a "good income" from it. This speaks of an emotional bond with the possession that politicians and NGOs exploit to their advantage.Besides, 60 per cent of the farmers have become used to this 'traditional occupation' and 62 per cent of all farmers would exchange the land for 'a good job in the city'. This is the crux of the problem. Farmers could be weaned away by the offer of jobs rather than the compensation. If jobs cannot be offered, they should be given the right to the acquired land as a long-term lease, instead of an outright sale.Is the requirement of land for industrial purposes well calculated or do they err on getting more than what they actually use? It is claimed that J

Letters: Land acquired or wasted?

Apropos Shailesh Dobhal's column "Dial D for growth" (Across the board, March 10), in earlier days we used to hear about terms such as 'business forward or backward integration' or 'core business'. But these concepts are now quickly fading away, giving way to diversification and multi-product ventures.What does Bharti Airtel have to do with payments bank or Tata with aviation? The truth lies in the fact that entrepreneurs are like adventurers and there is no 'core competence' in an adventure. Moreover, businessmen simply do not have to be really 'competent' in any specific segment. There are people who know the products, the market, the technology and above all, the people in the respective segments. Entrepreneurs need to identify and select the most effective people for the segment they are venturing into. That is their 'core competency'.It is but natural that seasoned businessmen who have proved their competency consistently will try to grab any opportunity that policy-makers decide

Letters: When entrepreneurs dare

This refers to the report "Disconnect in the Digital India initiative" (March 7). The report carries a map of India, which shows that Assam's official websites have relevant and up-to-date information. Most of the official websites of Assam's various government departments have very little useful information and are almost always "back to date" rather than up to date. By this yardstick, I am sure other states' websites, too, are equally misleading.Digital India is a good idea. But this cannot be carried forward by our current bunch of bureaucrats. Digital India has to be implemented by people who know about information dissemination and not by those who swear by the Official Secrets Act.Ron Duarah  DibrugarhLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Fine-tuning Digital India

India tries to change the game on climate change

Carbon tax facts

Finance minister right to call for political consensus on reform

The way forward

A friendly cricket match held in Lucknow recently between the UP Chief Secretary XI and the Indian Industries Association (IIA) XI went in favour of the former, which won the match by seven runs. In the run-up to the match, the industrialists in the IIA team were found discussing - albeit in a lighter vein - the "repercussions" of winning the match. Interestingly, the UP IAS XI cricket team has lost all the three annual cricket matches it has played against the side led by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav (CM XI) since the inception of the series three years ago.One wonders if it was the "repercussion" rather than the strength of a team that was at play in these games.

Win-win or zero sum?

The Select Citywalk Mall, at Saket in New Delhi, hosted a flash mob - a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform some act and melt into the crowd - of a different kind on Sunday. A group of women in the 55-75 age group gathered for about half an hour, cheered and danced, "celebrating life" in general. It turned out to be an advertising gig organised by Ashiana Housing, a real estate firm, which has a host of housing projects for older citizens in cities such as Bhiwadi, Jaipur and Lavasa, besides one under construction in Chennai.

Flash mob with a difference

At the Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s 24th West Bengal state convention on Monday, former state chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee let it all out on the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He likened the government run by TMC to "a hellfire" and "an inferno". The BJP was no choice for the people of the state either because, he said, it was asking the people to replace "baam (Left) with Ram". As a parting shot, he urged the people of the state and its politicians to unite and work towards "delivering" themselves from these "evils".

Between hell and a hard place

This refers to Subir Gokarn's column "The other side of devolution" (Muddy Waters, March 9). State governments have a tendency to provide subsidies (say, free power for agriculture) or create physical structures such as community centres, panchayat ghars, dharamshalas and so on  to please their vote banks, even if their immediate need or use may be limited. The funds for the maintenance of buildings, cleanliness, qualitative improvements/providing the required manpower in schools, hospitals (soft infrastructure) have always been inadequate. Maybe, it was due to the lack of confidence in the continued availability of funds or a fear of them being easily siphoned off.Moreover, sub-district offices were virtually starved of funds for basic maintenance items such as office stationery, diesel for government vehicles and so on (especially in police stations, revenue offices) so much so that a sort of crowdsourcing from public was practised, bringing the administration a bad name in the proce

Letters: The devolution dilemma

This refers to the report"J&K flood victims caught in govt-NGO politics" (March 8). The bureaucracy is expected to take a humanitarian approach and not project themselves as centres of power. They should instead realise that they, too, are part of society and not a powerful section cut away from them. Foreign funding from reputed foreign social organisations, of which the end use is certain, should not be indefinitely blocked merely because of their being on the list for other suspicious fund transactions. These two aspects should not be unduly linked to prevent the speedy flow of funds received from abroad.Non governmental organisations also play a social reconstructive role but they also require swift financial support to carry out qualitative social rebuilding activities. Today, banks hesitate to put through transactions to ensure the smooth flow of funds for such causes for fear of being hauled up for regulatory violations. Stringent Know Your Customer norms further create fear

Letters: Man-made problems

Nimesh Shah, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company, answers your questionsWhile choosing an equity fund scheme, what factors should one take note of?It is important to have a long-term investment horizon, as equities could be volatile in the short term but tend to outperform all asset classes over the longer term. Also, choose equity schemes according to your risk appetite. For instance, diversified equity funds are likely to be less volatile compared with sector funds. In the latter, the risk is skewed towards a particular sector, rather than being spread across the market.Look at the long-term performance record of the equity scheme. Also, past performance of these funds across market cycles is a good indicator, looking only at this is like looking at the rear view mirror to drive a car. Also, looking at only recent performance might also not be the right way to evaluate a fund. Further, it is of utmost importance to look at the re

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